John Boyne’s 4th novel is his most famous one, it tells the tale of a friendship that was set during the horror of the 2nd world war. It shows the capacity of mankind to be absolutely evil.
The story starts with the nine year old Bruno; he is growing up in the city of Berlin during World War 2. When his father is visited by the ‘’fury’’ he is promoted to Commandant and they’ve have to move away from Berlin to the Countryside. When they move there and he looks out of his Bedroom window he sees people in striped pajamas, he asks to his father ‘’who are these people?’’ he responds that they aren’t really people. Because there aren’t any other children to play he decides to ignore his father and off he goes to investigate the barbwire area. There he discovers a boy from around his age, thrilled by the discovery of a new friend he decides to approach this boy, his name is Shmuel. Afterwards they meet nearly every day and a friendship starts to develop, they discuss their family lives and what they do. The focus of the book is on the innocence of Bruno, his father his dining and he’s a resident of Auschwitz and still he’s getting along with a prisoner on the other side of the fence. One fateful day, Bruno takes of his clothes, gets the pajamas, and sneaks onto Shmuel's side of the fence. As the boys search for Shmuel’s father as Bruno promised, the soldiers start to round up all the prisoners. They’re driven into the gas chambers where they die hand in hand.
The Boy in Striped Pajamas shows the innocence of children in wartime and how they all need friendship to survive, and how all fences can be torn down.
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